Minions

Yellow might be a signal for caution, but it didn’t stop studio executives from giving Minions a green light.

As is typically the case with spin-offs from successful franchises, this one pales in comparison to the source material, in this instance the clever animated comedy Despicable Me. And it proves that its pill-shaped protagonists who served as little yellow sidekicks in their two previous appearances aren’t deserving of the spotlight.

It’s a prequel of sorts that portrays the diminutive, bespectacled minions as a species whose survival through the centuries has depended upon being able to assist monsters and dictators with their nefarious schemes. Apparently by the 1960s, such opportunities dried up, because the forlorn group sends three of its finest to New York to look for a new master.

They wind up at a bad-guy convention in Orlando, where they win a contest to become the henchmen for pioneer female supervillain Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) and her wacky inventor husband (Jon Hamm). Scarlet has her sights set on stealing the Crown Jewels and becoming Queen of England, but once the minions botch that operation, a globetrotting adventure ensues with world domination in the balance.

The film has its charms, but these characters are more tolerable in smaller doses. They bumble around and speak gibberish without much in the way of facial expressions or body language, and an extended opening sequence that inserts the clumsy henchmen into parodies of various historical events pretty much showcases their entire arsenal.

Yet the film works around those obstacles pretty well with a clever collection of sight gags and action set pieces. Children will enjoy the low-brow slapstick antics of the miniature malefactors, while adults should appreciate some of the fish-out-of-water jokes related to the various settings. However, the story seems determined to be cute and cuddly for a film about aspiring evildoers. The twisted sense of humor from the original films is mostly missing here.

Regular series director Pierre Coffin, who also voices the minions, works with co-director Kyle Balda (The Lorax) to give the animation plenty of crisp detail, although there’s not much substance beneath the spectacle.

Indeed, while the next Despicable Me installment is still in development, the makers of Minions likely had visions of more plush-toy sales in their heads during the conception stage, hoping to turn yellow into green.

Rated PG, 91 minutes.